New research discovery of SMART, MIT’s Research Enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with MIT’s Laser Biomedical Research Center (LBRC), enables scientists to study, for the first time, membrane mechanics of cell’s nucleus.
New confocal reflectance interferometric microscope enables scientists to probe nuclear membrane mechanics within intact cells in a label-free fashion.
Nuclear mechanics is known to play a key role in many diseases including cancer metastasis and genetic illnesses such as progeria and muscular dystrophy.
The label-free technology does not affect cells, allowing cell screening for therapeutic applications in which cells are injected or implanted into the human body.
Existing label-free techs allow studying ‘thin’ cultured cells only; in contrast, the newly developed tech can enable scientists to study cells in biological tissues.
Singapore, September 19, 2019 - Researchers at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and MIT’s Laser Biomedical Research Center (LBRC) have developed a new way to study cells, paving the way for a better understanding of how cancers spread and become killers.
Read more at: Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology
Dr. Vijay Raj Singh, SMART Research Scientist, and Dr. Zahid Yaqoob, MIT LBRC Principal Investigator, studying tumor cells using the new confocal reflectance interferometric microscope. (Photo Credit: Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology)